Tim Cook says Android has 47 times more malware than iOS because of sideloading

[Darth Shiv]

And malicious (and benevolent) actors HAVE enabled and exploited it on Apple devices... hence jailbreaking and sideloading being possible if you know what you’re doing....

Jailbreak is very rare and exceedingly so if you put a caveat of "no sophisticated user action required" which remote exploitation and social engineering would be after.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Jailbreak is very rare and exceedingly so if you put a caveat of "no sophisticated user action required" which remote exploitation and social engineering would be after.

I agree... but so are exploits of any kind... that’s the whole point here, isn’t it?

 

[Puiu]

It absolutely does make sense. Admin exploits or social engineering are not impossible. In any sophisticated software OS that adds any number of features this risk is real let alone a large stagnant one. We see exploits for old code on WinNT kernel all the time. Android and Linux in general are no different - they are far from immune to admin privilege exploit.

You are literally talking about a user gaining administrative privileges, exploiting multiple critical bugs and saying that they should worry about "sideloading". I think you have serious "security" issues.

In the end all you are doing is spreading missinformation just because you like apple more.

The only real security concern is from the apps you decide to sideload. Without express permission those apps can't be installed and to access your data you have to give them again permissions.

Fact: the only reason Apple doesn't permit it is because they can't control the payment options of such an app. You would also be able to install a browser like Chrome or Firefox that doesn't use their crappy and outdated engine from safari.

 

[Darth Shiv]

I agree... but so are exploits of any kind... that’s the whole point here, isn’t it?

It's a small vector if sideloading isn't legit right? Jailbreak is something Apple can crush and by extension close down a lot of risk. They literally only need to monitor for jailbreaks to shut down all those vectors. Give massive bounties, use their app store lockout policies to force users to update OS and get these patches to keep on with the latest apps. It's strong control of the eco and good leverage to force shut attack vectors too.

 

[Squid Surprise]

It's a small vector if sideloading isn't legit right? Jailbreak is something Apple can crush and by extension close down a lot of risk. They literally only need to monitor for jailbreaks to shut down all those vectors. Give massive bounties, use their app store lockout policies to force users to update OS and get these patches to keep on with the latest apps. It's strong control of the eco and good leverage to force shut attack vectors too.

Apple has been trying to shut down jailbreaking ever since the first iPhone came out... and they haven’t succeeded... so no, I disagree...

 

[Xallisto]

Tim Cook is 100% correct. Sideloading on iOS would ruin it. I pity the people who are too thick to grasp this. Just leave it alone and don’t buy an iPhone? Literally no one is forced to own one and those that do don’t want buggy sideloaded garbage.

And conversely, nobody who does not want to sideload apps on Apple would not have 2 either.

Sideloading apps is not going to affect anybody who does not want to sideload, but there is nothing wrong with offering the option for those who do.